TAMPA, FL – DECEMBER 17: A general view during the 2023 Division I women’s volleyball tournament between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Texas Longhorns at Amalie Arena on December 17, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Jimmy Schwapiro/NCAA Images via Getty Images)
Texas captured the NCAA women’s volleyball title on Sunday, defeating overall No. 1 seed Nebraska to win its second straight championship.
The win came before a record crowd of 19,727 — breaking the indoor volleyball attendance record set just days earlier during the NCAA semifinals. This year concludes a record attendance for women’s volleyball, which is centered around Nebraska.
“You think you’re invincible. You think it’s destiny. ‘It’s ours.'” “I think Texas has seen that,” Nebraska coach John Cook said.
The Cornhuskers set the record for the largest crowd at a women’s sporting event, hosting 92,003 fans at an outdoor game at Memorial Stadium. They also had the largest total of the home season with 255,953 people participating. Now they are part owners of the largest NCAA volleyball franchise.
However, despite Nebraska’s historic season, there was no doubt Sunday about Texas becoming national champions again. Libero Asjia O’Neal served 10 straight points in the second set, which proved pivotal in the 3-0 win.
“Volleyball is a huge game with a lot of momentum,” O’Neill said. “During that run, I absolutely felt the momentum shift to our side. We were playing with so much confidence and happiness and I knew we had the game in our hands. … I was smiling because I was so happy with how we were feeling. You just feel it. I felt like we were going to win the game.”
Serving really became the key to the game.
“They brought a level of serving that we haven’t seen all year and it really affected our momentum and confidence and then everything started going their way and they got all the momentum and we could never get it back.” Cook said.
Texas captured the title in the first NCAA volleyball tournament game to be televised on ABC.
“We had all the confidence in the world,” Texas star outside hitter Madisen Skinner told ESPN after the game. “I’ll say it until I die – this team was at its peak right now and we had a lot of trust and belief in each other. I mean the pressure of our service was crazy. It gave us a lot of options in transition.”
O’Neill described it as “the most exhilarating season I’ve ever had in my life.”
“We were able to play for free, we love each other and we support each other, and throughout the whole year, it was a lot of fun,” O’Neill said. “It was definitely tough at times, but today just for example, everyone played freely, everyone trusted each other, and we were able to come out and beat some really great teams.”